Guard-finger.



J. C. BROWN GUARD FINGER.

APPLICATiON FILED DEC.1. 1917.

1270,689. Patented June 25, 1918.

INVENTOR Jbsepfi aBrow/v,

WITNESSES ATTORNEY member.

JOSEPH 0. BROWN, or CLARK, WYOMING.

GUARD-FINGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1918.

Application filed December 1, 1917. Serial No. 204,859.

Clark, in the county of Park and State of WVyoming,have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Guard-Fingers, of "which the followlng 1sa specificatlon.

This invention is a WGELIIIIg OI spacing member more particularlyadapted for use in connection with guard fingers wherein the armsprojecting laterally from the fingers are formed to have a sector shapein cross'section and mounting thereon a bushing to serve as a wearingand spacing The principal object of the invention is to provide, awearing and spacing member that may be readily applied to the lateralarms of guard fingers, which member will prevent excessive vibration butno independent movement sufficient to break the individual finger shanksor loosen their connection with the finger bar.

Another object of the invention is to provide a member that is simpleand strong in construction, formed of suitable material and one thatwill be cheap to manufacture for quick and easy renewal.

Broadly stated, the invention comprises a wearing and spacing memberthat is sector shape in cross section and provided with a similarlyshaped bore extending longitudi nally therethrough, said member havingits ends adapted to engage with the guard fingers, and the bore in saidmember being adapted to receive the lateral arms extending from saidfingers.

' One practical form of construction and assembly will be described andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a topplan view of four guard fingers assembled and between two of saidfingers the member is shown in section and in position on two of thelateral arms,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly in section of one of the guard fingersshowing the curved recess adjacent the ends of the lateral arm,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1, showing the guardfinger in side elevation, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the wearing or spacing member.

Onepractical form of the invention includes the guard fingers generallyindicated at 5 having the lateral arms indicated at 6 and 7. These arms6 and 7 are oppositely positioned upon the guard fingers 5. Adjacent theinner ends of these arms 6 and 7 where they join the finger guard, theguard is provided with a curved recess 8 that is substantially sectorshaped.

The arms 6 and 7 are also sector shaped. As shown in Fig. 1 the arms donot contact at their ends with each other in the assembly illustrated.To cooperate with these arms 6 and 7 there is provided a wearing andspacing member generally indicated at A.

The wearing and spacing member A is of an elongated form and isapproximately sector shape in cross section. As shown it is providedwith a flatside 9 that connects with another flat side 10 that ispositioned at right angles to the side 9. Each of the sides 9 and 10 areof approximately the same width and they are joined at theirother endsby a curved side 11.

In order to mount the wearing and spacing member A upon the sectorshaped arms 6 and 7 it is provided with a bore 12 that is approximatelysector shape in cross section, and the contour follows generally thecontour of the member A. As shown in Fig. 3 the bore 12 is positionednearer the flat side 9 so that the material in the member is slightlythinner there than the material be tween the bore 12 and the side 10, orthe bore 12 and the curved side 11.

The wearing and spacing member A serving as a sleeve is preferablysector-shaped so that the flat surface or side 9 will lie in a planeparallel to the cutting blades. This side as shown is approximatelyflush with the upper surface of the guard finger.

The under surface 11 is rounded so that the guard fingers will passsmoothly over the stubble left after mowing or cutting. The bore beinglikewise sector-shaped to cooperate with the arms and this shape of thesleeve and its bore are most effective in retaining the fingers in fixedalinement and to prevent vibration therebetween.

The wearing and spacing member which has been illustrated and describedwill indicate that the device fills a need when the guard fingers havetheir arms worn. As soon as the arms get worn it is necessary to alinethem and in a short time in use they are displaced. This means that theguard fingers require replacement at more or less frequent intervals.When they become worn the operation of the machine causes them to jerksideWise and it is almost impossible to keep them alined.

11": these guard fingers employed upon a grass mowing machine it meansthat the machine Will not cut the grass cleanly and thereby produces aWastethat is unnecessary Y V mowing machine to cut the grass cleanly andthu'savoid Waste. I c p V l Vhat is claimed is i I V 1. The combinationof guard fingers each having laterally extending arms and provided Witha recess formed concentric to the inner end of each arm, adetachabletubular member having a bore therethrough that is sector-shaped incross-section for receiving ad aCent arms and adapting said member to beremovably mountedonthe arms and intel-posed between adjacent fingers,said memher being approximately sectonshaped in cross-section andserving to retain adjacent fingers in substantially fixed aline-mentWhen a movement. 1 I V In testimony whereof I alfix my signatureassembled onthe arms and the end portions 7 of the member are in contactWith the Walls of their respectivevrecesses to prevent rotative movementbetween the member and arm and therefrom independent finger movement.

The combination of guard fingers each having laterally extending armsthat are approximately sector-shaped in cross-section, a tubular memberhaving a bore therethrough that is substantially sector-shaped incrosssection to permit said member to be removablymounted upon adjacentand alining arms and serving as a Wearing and spacing member wheninterposed between ,tWo adjacent guard fingersQsaid memberbeing vproximately sector-shaped in cross-section,

and said guard fingers being formedwith a recess having .a configurationsimilar to the cross-section of said member for closely receiving theends otthe interposedmember and formaintainingv them' against rotary inpresence of two itnesses.v g} V Witnesses; V f i THOMASKA. Snrn,CLARENCE ;L. BROWN.

Copies or this patent may. be obtained forfivecents each, by addressingthe j doinm is sionr of ii atent's,

. v "Washington, D. 0.

